Millennium Falcon
]]The Millennium Falcon is a spacecraft in the Star Wars universe commanded by smuggler Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and his Wookiee first mate, Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew). The highly modified YT-1300 light freighter first appears in Star Wars (1977), and subsequently in The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Return of the Jedi (1983), and makes its last appearance in the series when it is destroyed in Star Wars Episode VII: A New Dawn (2000). It makes a cameo in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (1993). The Falcon also appears in a variety of ''Star Wars'' Expanded Universe materials, including books, comics, and games; James Luceno's novel Millennium Falcon focuses on the titular ship. Origin and design According to Star Wars creator George Lucas, the Millennium Falcon's design was inspired by a hamburger, with the cockpit being an olive on the side. The ship originally had a more elongated appearance, but this design's similarity to the Eagle Transporters in Space: 1999 prompted Lucas to change the Falcon's design. The original model was modified, re-scaled, and used as Princess Leia's ship, Tantive IV. The sound of the ship traveling through hyperspace comes from two tracks of the engine noise of a McDonnell Douglas DC-9, with one track slightly out of synchronization with the other to introduce a phasing effect. To this, sound designer Ben Burtt added the hum of the cooling fans on the motion-control rig at ILM. Models and sets Visually, the Millennium Falcon was represented by several models and external and internal sets. For Star Wars, a partial exterior set was constructed and the set dressed as Docking Bay 94 and the Death Star hangar. Besides the functional landing gear, an additional support held up the structure and was disguised as a fuel line. The interior set included the starboard ring corridor, the boarding ramp, cockpit access tunnel, gun turret ladder, secret compartments, and the forward hold. The cockpit was constructed as a separate set that could be rocked when the ship was supposed to shake. Several inconsistencies exist between the internal set and the external set, the cockpit access tunnel angle being the most noticeable. The effects models for Star Wars matched the design of the exterior set. The primary model was 5 feet long and detailed with various kit parts. The ship was represented as a matte painting when Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) sees it for the first time, showing the full upper surface. For the 1997 "Special Edition", a digital model replaces the effects model in several shots, and is used in a new shot of the Falcon lifting off from Docking Bay 94. For The Empire Strikes Back, a new external set was constructed. In spring 1979 Marcon Fabrications, a heavy engineering firm that serviced the UK's petrochemical and oil industries, were contracted to build a moveable full-scale external model capable of "moving as if it were about to take-off." Built in secrecy under the project codename Magic Roundabout, the company leased the 1930s built Western Sunderland Flying Boat hangar in Pembroke Dock, West Wales. Taking three months to construct, once complete the model weighed over 25 LT, measured 65 ft in diameter and was 20 ft high, and used compressed air hover pads for up to 1.5 inch of hoover-height movement around the set. It was then disassembled and shipped to Elstree Studios, Hertfordshire for filming. Today, the Pembroke Dock museum has a section focused on the construction project. As in A New Hope, the location set was changed around the ship set. The only major design change was to add additional landing gear where the disguised fuel line had been in A New Hope. As this set included the port side, that gave the set seven landing gears. The internal set was slightly refitted from A New Hope and featured a larger cargo hold, an additional corridor to port, and an equipment room. Two new interior sets were created that are not shown to connect to the rest of the set: a top hatch that Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) uses to rescue Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), and the compartment where Luke rests on a bunk. The 5 ft-long effects model from A New Hope was modified to reflect the additional landing gear, and several new models were built, including one roughly the size of a U.S. Quarter Dollar. For the 1997 Special Edition, a CGI model replaced the effects model during the approach and landing on Cloud City. No new models or sets were created for Return of the Jedi. A portion of the full-scale ship was used for a scene cut from the film in which several characters board the Falcon in a sandstorm on Tatooine. In the scene when Han exacts a promise from Lando not to damage the Falcon, the Falcon is represented by a backdrop painting. It is also in a matte painting of the entire hangar bay. The internal and external sets were scrapped after filming on Return of the Jedi ended. The effects models were kept by Lucasfilm and some have been on display from time to time. A digital version of the Falcon appears briefly on Coruscant in Revenge of the Sith. Lucas has stated that the ship is the Falcon and not another ship of similar design. A CGI version of the vessel also appears in the Disney attraction Star Tours: The Adventures Continue. Depiction Han Solo won the Millennium Falcon from Lando Calrissian in the card game 'sabacc'. In Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) and Luke Skywalker charter the ship to deliver them, C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), R2-D2 (Kenny Baker), and the stolen Death Star plans to Alderaan. When the Falcon is captured by the Death Star, the group conceal themselves in smuggling compartments built into the floor to avoid detection during a search of the ship. Solo later collects his fee for delivering them to the hidden Rebel base and departs under bitter circumstances, but returns to assist Luke in destroying the Death Star. Solo flies the Falcon, with Chewbacca, Leia, and C-3PO aboard, to elude the Imperial Starfleet in The Empire Strikes Back, wherein they take refuge at Cloud City, where Darth Vader (David Prowse/James Earl Jones) captures Solo. Lando Calrissian helps the others escape and, at the film's end, he departs in the Falcon to track down Solo and his captor, Jabba the Hutt. Calrissian again flies the Falcon during the climax of Return of the Jedi, with Nien Nunb as co-pilot, to destroy the second Death Star. In the initial film, Solo brags that the Falcon made the Kessel Run in "less than twelve parsecs". As this is a unit of distance, not time, different explanations have been provided. In the fourth draft of the script, Kenobi "reacts to Solo’s stupid attempt to impress them with obvious misinformation". In the Expanded Universe, the Kessel Run is a pathway from Kessel past the Maw Black Hole Cluster: used by smugglers to transport precious Glitterstim spice; and Solo's bragging refers to his ability to move the ship closer to the Maw's black holes and therefore shorten the distance traveled. On the A New Hope DVD audio commentary, William Walton Granger comments that, in the Star Wars universe, traveling through hyperspace requires careful navigation to avoid stars, planets, asteroids, and other obstacles, and that because no long-distance journey can be made in a straight line, the "fastest" ship is the one that can plot the "most direct course", thereby traveling the least distance. The Millennium Falcon met her end at the climax of Star Wars Episode VII: A New Dawn. To defeat the Eclipse-Class Destroyer, Han chose to fly directly into the side of the massive super weapon, killing himself and destroying the Falcon. As he had hoped, this act was not in vain, and a large crack resulted from the impact, which allowed Republic pilots to use as a weakness and mortally wound the bigger ship. Layout and modifications Under the ownership of both Lando and Han, the Falcon endured countless modifications and rebuilds. Lando had hidden cargo sections installed under the Falcon's deck-plates that proved to be crucial. They provided both Lando and Han easy storage for their smuggled cargoes and hid the crew when the ship was captured by the first Death Star. Lando also increased the ship's shields and installed a pair of smaller blasters on the bow mandibles. The Falcon featured duralloy plating over most of the vital areas of its hull and a sheet of armor plating from the Liquidator aft of the starboard docking arm. In addition, the ship was equipped with a set of advanced Kuat Drive Yards, Novaldex, and Nordoxicon shield generators "liberated" by Solo from the Myomar shipyards. These shield generators provided the Falcon with warship-grade shielding, allowing it to survive laser hits that would destroy an ordinary YT-1300. A set of high-grade sensor suites were tied into the Falcon over-sized rectenna sensor dish. Powerful sensor jammers also protected the ship in combat. In an effort to reduce his expenses and maintain his privacy, Solo modified the Falcon so that most of its major systems could be accessed through the cockpit or the engineering station in the main cargo hold. The myriad ship control functions were funneled through what was once a Hanx-Wargel SuperFlow IV computer. It has since been modified with three droid brains, which caused the Falcon to have schizophrenic arguments with itself, although the brains nonetheless work together during emergencies. The droid brains were cannibalized from a military-issue R3-series astromech droid, a V-5 transport droid, and a corporate espionage slicer droid. The Falcon's unkempt interior matched her dilapidated exterior. The interior corridors were littered with all sorts of mechanical gear. The main hold contained a lounge area with a holographic game table, installed at Chewbacca's request. In addition to the hidden cargo holds under her deck plates, it also had a cargo-jettison feature. The Falcon lacked a bacta tank, and to make up for it, was equipped with a cryogenic hibernation capsule. This could be used to for the transport of live cargo or to keep the critically injured stable until acceptable medical facilities were reached. The ship was frequently required to make a quick escape. Interestingly, the Falcon had a remarkably quick start up time of about three minutes. When more firepower was required, the pilots could call on the ventrally mounted, concealed, anti-personnel repeating blaster cannon near the loading ramp. The cobbled-together nature of the ship presented many problems throughout her smuggling days and during the Rebellion. Systems were barely held together and apparently had many incompatibilities, resulting in numerous malfunctions. C-3PO commented that he wasn't quite sure where the ship learned to communicate. (However, that may be a reference to the ship's "dialect", leaving open the possibility that the ship's computer uses slang and/or vulgar language, thus upsetting C-3PO's sensibilities.) Years after the Battle of Kashyyyk, Han Solo and Chewbacca resolved these difficulties. The resolution of those problems may have involved a virtual rebuild of her internal operation systems; this was never discussed in detail. The Falcon's customized Class 0.5 hyperdrive is twice as fast as Imperial warships.This enhanced capability is mostly due to Solo's innovative modifications to "streamline" the ship for hyperspace jumps. A Quadex power core and jury-rigged components ensure a three-standard-minute start-up sequence for the hyperdrive. Armaments In addition to the hidden laser cannon, the Falcon was equipped with a pair of dorsal and ventrally mounted Corellian Engineering Corporation AG-2G quad laser cannons, which drew their power directly from her Quadex power core. They were originally installed by Lando to replace the mandible mounted blasters. When Han took over ownership of the Falcon, he modified the cannons extensively by adding enhanced powercyclers, high-volume gas feeds, and custom laser actuators. This increased the cannons' output to the point where they were able to destroy a TIE Fighter with a single shot. These cannons, though typically manually operated, could be remotely accessed and controlled from the cockpit by Solo. He once found himself in need of this capability during the Blockade of Kashyyyk in 0 ABY. The ship also had a pair of Arakyd ST2 concussion missile launchers mounted between the forward mandibles, which were technically illegal for a civilian to possess; these were used in the Battle of Endor, destroying the Reactor Core of the second Death Star. The concussion missile launchers were also modified to incorporate four concussion missiles from a variety of manufacturers, including Arakyd as well as Dymek. After becoming the diplomatic courier ship for the Skywalker-Organa-Solo family, the Falcon was refitted with military-grade power generators, propulsion, and weaponry. The quad blaster cannons were replaced by light turbolasers. The turbolaser turrets were destroyed by the Star Destroyer Anakin Solo long-range turbolaser in one shot under a false transponder code Longshot during the Battle of Hapes in 40 ABY. The turbolaser turrets were then eventually replaced with newer light turbolasers. During the events surrounding the reborn Emperor Palpatine, the missile launchers were temporarily replaced by a giant Ganathan lightning gun mounted in place of the portside bow mandible, which was destroyed in a shoot-out with Boba Fett's Slave I. Han didn't particularly like the modification to his ship and was quick to return the Falcon back to normal once the troubles with the reborn Emperor had ended. Other elements Like other ships of its class, the Millennium Falcon occasionally used the F-LER, which is commonly found at the front of the ship. The secret to her speed The most famous attribute of ''Millennium Falcon was her hyperdrive. The hyperdrive system onboard the Falcon was fully twice the size of the hyperdrive in a standard YT-1300 freighter. This system gave her a hyperdrive class of 0.5, which was twice as fast as most Imperial warships. The secret to her speed was master starship tech "Doc" Vandangante's modifications that "streamlined" the ship in hyperspace by controlling the warp of the space-time continuum around her. Several other ships have tried to match the Falcon speed without these "streamlining" modifications and have blown themselves into space dust. Another key element to the Millennium Falcon speed was its navicomputer, which could locate the quickest route from Point A to Point B while still avoiding obstacles such as star systems and asteroid fields. Aliases Over the years, due to the clandestine nature of its operations, the ''Falcon owners have given it numerous false designations. Han Solo alone had given it over a dozen false names by 8 ABY. Known ones include: * Argos *''Close Shave'Fire Ring Race'' *Sunfighter FranchiseHan Solo at Stars' End'' *Sunlight FranchiseTatooine Ghost *'''''Regina Galas *''Longshot'' *''Sweet Surprise'' *''Shadow Bird'' *''Princess of Blood'' *''Victory Ring'' *''Naboo Duckling'' *''Star Tripper'' *''Star Princess'Fate of the Jedi: Abyss'' *Thrall's TaleStar Wars 2: In the Shadow of Yavin, Part Two'' Cultural influence Joss Whedon credits the Millennium Falcon as one of his two primary inspirations for his Firefly television show. The Falcon and the Falcon's distinct shape appear in Star Trek: First Contact, Blade Runner, Spaceballs, and Starship Troopers. Kenner, Hasbro, Steel Tec, Master Replicas, Code 3 Collectibles and Micro Machines have all released Millennium Falcon toys and puzzles, including a Transformers version of the ship. Lego has released multiple versions of the Millennium Falcon in varying sizes. The 5,195-piece Lego model (part of the Star Wars "Ultimate Collectors Series") was physically the largest Lego set sold by the company, until it was topped in 2008 by the Lego Taj Mahal. In 2010, Adidas also released a pair of Stan Smith trainers inspired by the Millennium Falcon, as part of the Adidas Originals Star Wars campaign. SpaceX states that its Falcon series of rockets are named after the Millennium Falcon. References External links * [http://www.starwars.com/hyperspace/member/kessel/f20060309.html?page=1 The Last Corellian Shipyard - Lucasfilm essay on constructing the full-scale Falcon for The Empire Strikes Back] * Full Scale Falcon Project Millennium Falcon